Christ—the Word of Life
1 Christ is the Word of Life. He was from the beginning. We have heard Him and have seen Him with our own eyes. We have looked at Him and put our hands on Him. 2 Christ Who is Life was shown to us. We saw Him. We tell you and preach about the Life that lasts forever. He was with the Father and He has come down to us. 3 We are preaching what we have heard and seen. We want you to share together with us what we have with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing this to you so our joy may be full.
Christians Are to Live in the Light
5 This is what we heard Him tell us. We are passing it on to you. God is light. There is no darkness in Him. 6 If we say we are joined together with Him but live in darkness, we are telling a lie. We are not living the truth. 7 If we live in the light as He is in the light, we share what we have in God with each other. And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, makes our lives clean from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we lie to ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we tell Him our sins, He is faithful and we can depend on Him to forgive us of our sins. He will make our lives clean from all sin. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar. And His Word is not in our hearts.